by Kate Keir
“Devastated? Yes. Surprised? Not really. She hasn’t got a great track record for being a good person from what Lyall has told me. But the reason I told you guys this is because no matter how evil she is, I don’t want to hurt Lyall’s mother if we can help it.” I gave them a challenging stare as I spoke.
Artair narrowed his eyes at me. “We can try and avoid hurting her, but I can’t promise not to kill her if she goes after any of us, including Lyall or Pen.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to. Thank you, Artair.” I looked around the room at the others, and they all nodded their agreement.
Enid had been deeply focussed on the laptop until now. She suddenly looked up at me with a triumphant smile and said, “I found it. There is a bunker underneath the facility which can be accessed through a large drainage tunnel that runs into the woods just behind the building.”
Freya raised an eyebrow. “Tunnel? Woods? Now you’re talking. Perhaps we can keep our approach under wraps after all.”
“Great work, Enid.” I smiled at the younger girl.
“Does this mean that I get to come with you guys?” She asked brightly.
“I’m afraid not, honey,” Freya replied.
“Enid, does the bunker definitely have access to the upper floors of the facility?” Artair distracted the young girl from her disappointment.
“Yes, if you look here.” She pointed at the screen, and we gathered around to look. “There is an emergency fire escape at either side of the building. They both run from the very top floor down into the basement. I imagine they’ll be guarded, but you should be able to get access upstairs through them.”
We all studied the screen, trying to memorise as much of the layout of the building as we could.
“What’s this area here?” Freya pointed to a small square room on the eastern side the building which had been blacked out on the blueprints.
Scrunching her nose up in concentration, Enid scrolled through the writing that accompanied the images of the facility until she found what she was looking for. “Apparently it was a holding cell for prisoners.”
Pressing her perfectly manicured finger against the black box on the screen, Freya grinned. “I’ll bet my life on it, that’s where they’re holding Pen and Lyall.”
Artair stood. “I think it’s time to go.”
Finlay also got to his feet. “What are we going to do about the humans at the facility?”
Artair paused. “We’re Dion. We exist to protect Flora and humanity. We’ll do everything in our power to prevent harm coming to any humans, but I think we have to accept that there might be casualties.”
Freya spoke up. “If it’s a Draugur, kill it. If it’s human try to avoid death wherever possible, even if that means incapacitating them.”
Enid looked horrified at the thought of us fighting humans. I leaned down and whispered into her ear. “That’s why it’s better for you to stay here. I’m not even sure we’re ready for this, but you definitely shouldn’t be a part of it.”
She nodded her head before throwing her arms around me. “Please be careful, Flora. All of you.”
“Don’t worry about us, we’ll be fine. You just make sure you look after the castle, okay?” Freya tried to sound light hearted.
“Okay.” Enid stayed seated as we all got to our feet. It was time to rescue my Dion.
Chapter Twenty-Four
We used Artair’s car to cover the distance between us and the lab, intending to ditch it just before the woods that hid the entrance to the drainage tunnel. From there we would walk in an attempt to go under the radar.
Freya sat in the front passenger seat while Artair drove along the winding country roads. Finlay and I sat next to each other in the back. I looked over at the stranger’s profile. He was staring through the window at the dreary weather outside.
“How are you doing?” I murmured quietly.
As if waking from a dream, Finlay turned slowly toward me. “I’m all right, Flor. It just feels weird is all.”
“Is it bearable, though?” I gently touched the back of his hand with my fingertips.
“Mostly. It’s just, I can’t ever forget that I’m inside another person’s body, and it’s pretty creepy. I’m sure it’ll get easier.”
“I wish I could have found something better for you.” I frowned.
“It’s okay, Flor. It’s only temporary anyway.” His words felt like a knife through my own soul.
“After you’ve spent some time in there, you might feel differently. You might want to stay,” I suggested.
He smiled kindly at me. “I know that’s what you want, Flor, and I’d love to stay with you forever, but I don’t think it’s possible. I can feel my soul rejecting this body. Every part of me wants to be out of it.”
I started to panic. “Are you sure it’s your soul rejecting the body and not the body rejecting your soul?”
He gave a soft snort of laughter. “Trust me, it’s definitely me wanting out and not the body trying to ditch me. I’m the superior being here after all.”
I still felt a sliver of panic run through me, but I tried to ignore it. If Finlay said he was okay, then I had to believe him. “All right but promise me you’ll tell me if you feel this body starting to fall apart.”
“I promise.” He reached out and gently touched his fingers to my cheek. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the touch, even though it came from hands unknown to me.
“We’re here. It’s time to hit the road.” Artair had stopped the car and was looking back over his shoulder at us with a scowl on his face.
Pulling apart from each other, we unbuckled our seatbelts and jumped out of the car. The woods we were standing in were nothing like my Everwood. They were cold, wet, and mossy, but they smelt wonderful and the leaves of the trees rustled musically as the wind soughed through their branches.
“Come on.” Artair started walking through the green curtain, and we all fell into a single line behind him to follow, each of us scanning the terrain for Draugur.
It only took around fifteen minutes of walking to locate the huge concrete drain that rose from the foliage. It only had a tiny trickle of water running over its edge and into the spongy forest floor.
The circumference of the drain was so huge even Finlay could walk into it without needing to bend over. The tunnel however, was dark and uninviting. Thankful we had brought torches, we flicked them on and started to make our way into the pitch-black opening.
“It’s a good job I’m not afraid of the dark.” Freya’s voice echoed off the walls of the drain.
I stayed silent, thinking of Enid safely back at Castle Dion and relieved that she hadn’t managed to persuade us to let her come. This was no place for a kid.
We were all on edge as we walked through the tunnel, wondering if any Draugur had been left down here to protect the building. I was relieved when we eventually reached a chained and locked metal gate that barred the way to a cavernous underground room on its other side.
Artair had anticipated locked doors, and he quickly cut the chain that held the gate closed with a pair of bolt cutters. We entered the underground chamber, and I immediately noticed the two wooden doors on the east and west side of the room.
“I guess those lead to our fire escapes.” Finlay gestured to one of the doors as he spoke.
“I guess so,” Freya murmured in reply.
Artair gestured toward the western door. “Freya, you can come with me. Flora, you and Finlay can go through the eastern door. If we get to another fork in the road, then we can split again, okay?”
Everyone nodded and we made our way toward our respective doors. We each turned back to nod at the other couple before opening the unlocked doors and starting up the stairs that would hopefully take us to our friends.
Finlay and I were quiet as we reached the top of the fire escape and cautiously emerged into a brightly lit corridor that ran to the left and right of us.
“I guess this is where we split up again.” I
smiled at him.
He grabbed my hand. “Be careful, Flora.”
“I will, I promise. See you soon.” I squeezed his hand before letting it go and heading down my part of the corridor.
The corridor was long and had no turn-offs or doors set into the walls. I moved quickly, hoping that nobody would turn into the hallway at the far end. If they did, I would have nowhere to hide.
I breathed out a huge sigh of relief as I finally reached the end and turned left into a new, shorter corridor. As I walked, I realised I had found my way into the cells from the blueprints. The walls became dark, the light had dimmed, and the temperature dropped noticeably.
A sound in the third cell along drew my attention, and I ran to the bars to look through. Pen was sitting on a dirty mattress on the stone floor. Her clothes were filthy and her long, grey hair was matted. I growled in rage at the state she had been kept in.
Hearing me, Pen lifted her head and met my eyes. “Flora? Is it you?”
Tears came to my eyes, and I quickly searched my bag for the bolt cutters which were exactly the same as the ones Artair had used on the lower door. “Yes, it’s me. We’re getting you out of here.”
Pen rose shakily to her feet. “You have to be quick. If they find you they’ll kill you.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not planning on spending a minute longer than necessary in this hell-hole,” I replied as I fitted the bolt cutters to the chain on Pen’s door and sliced through it with ease.
As the chain rattled to the ground Pen pointed behind me and shouted a warning. “Flora, look out.”
Turning, I saw a Draugur running toward me. Without hesitation, I threw the words at it. “Esperi rith tai, mortis oct suoil, fortun rais dor, al noi pertina.”
Its soul was torn from its body and disappeared with an underwhelming pop. Pen stepped out of the cell and into the hall and gave me an appraising look. “You’ve been practising.”
I gave her a half-smile. “I have but it tires me out pretty quickly, so I hope there aren’t too many more of them. Let’s go.”
I gave Pen my arm to give her a little extra balance as she was wobbly on her feet. Anger burned inside me. How could they treat her like this?
I looked into each of the other cells as we passed them, but there was no sign of Lyall in any of them.
“I don’t think he’s here, Flora.” Pen understood who I was looking for.
“Then where is he?” Fear wound its way through the pit of my stomach.
“She likes to keep him with her. I think she may be attempting to get him to side with her.” Pen stumbled as she spoke, and I had to hook her underneath her arms to keep her from falling to her knees.
“Like hell he would.” I snarled.
A sudden sound behind us made me whirl around, bringing me face-to-face with six Draugur and two humans. I didn’t even hesitate, I started murmuring the ritual and took out three of the Draugur in quick succession.
One of the humans charged at us, but I side-stepped him before jutting my elbow out and belting his temple so hard he fell to the floor.
I turned back to Pen, pleased with my battle skills. The pleasure drained from my face when I saw Pen being held by two humans who had obviously crept up behind us. I started toward them but faltered to a standstill when the woman spoke to me.
“If you put up one more act of aggression toward any of us, Draugur or human, we’ll kill her on the spot.”
My eyes darted between them as I weighed up my options. They wanted Pen’s blood. Surely Helena hadn’t given them permission to kill her like this.
The man who held Pen’s other arm must have read my thoughts in the shift of my body. “We’ve been given full consent to terminate any of your Dion if you fail to cooperate, Soul Keeper.”
Shit.
Making my decision, I slowly raised my hands in a gesture of surrender. One of the Draugur came from behind me and placed two heavy cuffs over my wrists and fastened them tightly. As they started to march Pen and me along the corridor, I prayed internally the other three hadn’t been caught as well.
Chapter Twenty-Five
My hopes were short-lived when we were walked into a large room that had both a metal floor and walls. Helena was standing in the centre of the room at a panel of computers, and along the left-hand wall stood several Draugur who each watched over a chained-up Artair and Freya. Finlay was nowhere to be seen.
But the only person in the room that I had eyes for was Lyall. He was standing next to Helena, and he wasn’t restrained. My heart beat faster at the sight of him, although my mind was confused by the easy way in which he stood next to the psychopathic witch who wanted to overrun the world with evil.
“Lyall?”
“You address my son and not me?” Helena’s voice rang out across the room.
My eyes hardened as I turned my gaze on her. “Why would I speak to you? You’re demented. I’m here to stop your crazy-ass plan and bring my Dion home.” My eyes darted back to Lyall for a brief second before returning to his mother. “Both of them,” I added.
“Oh, Soul Keeper, he doesn’t want to come home with you. Do you boy?” She turned to Lyall as she spoke.
“No, I don’t.” As he spoke, I felt my whole world crashing down around me. I wanted to cry and scream, and most of all, I wanted to lash out at her for everything she had done to her son in the past and what she was doing to the world now.
I shifted my attention back to him. “Lyall, you don’t mean that. What has she said to you to make you do this?”
He ignored me completely.
“See, he has no interest in you, Flora. You’re not good enough for my son.” She looked at Artair and Freya as she said it, seemingly curious as to whether they knew of her connection to Lyall. She didn’t look too disappointed when neither of them appeared shocked.
“Anyway. We mustn’t dilly-dally, we have an experiment to conduct today.” Helena walked toward me as she spoke, gesturing to the Draugur next to me to take off my shackles.
“That was a dangerous move,” I snarled as I flexed my fingers.
“I don’t think so. You see, Flora, you’re a part of my experiment, and I think you’ll need your hands for this.”
I said nothing. Instead I stood and quietly seethed, wondering what she was going to do next.
Helena turned to one of the humans who was closest to the door. “Bring it in?” she trilled in a delighted voice.
The human disappeared for a few minutes while I watched the door with my breath held. When the human returned, he was accompanied by a Draugur that was unlike any Draugur I’d ever seen before.
It was not in false human form and so it had the same sickly skin and dead eyes that you would expect, but it was much taller than an average Draugur, and it emanated a darkness that was so evil it made me feel sick. The Draugur came to a halt in front of Lyall, watching Helena with oil-fire eyes and waiting for her command.
“This is what you and your little friends have christened a super Draugur, I believe. We decided the deliciousness in the irony of using your made-up name was just too good to pass up. Say hello to the first official Super Draugur, Flora.” Helena’s smile was smug.
The first thought that ran through my mind was a desire to find out if I could kill it, but I rejected it instantly. I didn’t want to share that knowledge with Helena or Sluag. I didn’t speak.
“It’s strange, you’re well known for having a little more to say for yourself than this, Flora,” Helena coaxed.
“I’m just considering the best way to get out of here without killing too many of you,” I snapped.
She wagged a finger at me as though she were scolding a child. “Not before we conduct our experiment, Flora.”
I sighed. “What do you want me to do, Helena?”
She grinned and pointed at the Super Draugur. “I want you to kill it.”
So, she wanted to know if they had created something that even a Soul Keeper couldn’t destroy. That informati
on was far too valuable, and I wasn’t prepared to help.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Sorry, no can do.”
She smirked. “I thought you might say that, Soul Keeper. So, let’s offer you a little incentive, shall we?”
I shrugged, still determined not to give her what she wanted.
“Sweetheart?” The Super Draugur turned its disgusting head toward the sound of her voice. “Do me a favour and kill my son?”
“What?” Lyall and I both spoke at the same time.
She looked Lyall directly in the eye as she spoke. “Oh, come on, sunshine, you hate me just as much as I hate you. The only reason you kept your mouth shut was because I promised I wouldn’t hurt Flora if you did.”
I closed my eyes for a moment and let relief flood through me, as I realised that Lyall hadn’t forsaken me for his mother, but then the Super Draugur grabbed Lyall by his throat and began throttling him so hard that Lyall turned instantly purple. The veins began to stand out in his eyes and his neck.
“Stop it,” I howled.
“Only you can stop it, Flora. Try and kill it.” Helena tapped her foot impatiently.
I was terrified the Super Draugur would burst Lyall’s head, it was squeezing so hard. This wasn’t worth holding back on information.
“Okay, okay. I’ll do it,” I shrieked.
“Good, but you better be quick, Flora.” Helena had no intention of calling the Draugur off. I had no choice but to try.
Raising my hand and facing my palm toward the monster, I spoke. “Esperi rith tai, mortis oct suoil, fortun rais dor, al noi pertina.”
Nothing happened.
I tried again but still the Draugur kept on squeezing the life out of my bonded Dion. Lyall seemed to have lost consciousness now; he was limp in the monster’s hands.
“I can’t kill it,” I admitted. “Please, call it off?”
“I’m not sure I believe you, Flora. I suggest you try harder because the only way it can be stopped is if I tell it to stop or if I magically cease to exist. Try again.”
